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| Ghana Black Queens vs Mali - WAFCON Group D Decider |
- Mali v Ghana
- Moulay Rachid Stadium, Casablanca
- Thursday, 6 August — kick-off 20:00 GMT (21:00 local)
- Group D: Cameroon 6pts (qualified) · Ghana 3pts · Mali 3pts · Cape Verde 0pts (eliminated)
Ghana can secure their place in the quarter-finals of the Women's Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) with a draw against Mali on Thursday, while their West African rivals have to win to keep their own tournament alive.
Kick-off in the Group D decider is at 20:00 GMT (21:00 local) at the Moulay Rachid Stadium in Casablanca — the venue that has staged all three of Ghana's group matches. Mali make the short trip across the city, having played their first two games at the Larbi Zaouli Stadium.
Cameroon have already secured top spot after winning both their opening matches, leaving Ghana and Mali to fight for the second quarter-final berth. Cape Verde, beaten in both their games so far, cannot catch either side regardless of the result in their own final match against Cameroon, kicking off at the same time across town.
Ghana and Mali go into matchday three level on three points — but Ghana hold a clear edge in the calculations.
Under the Confederation of African Football's (CAF) tie-break rules, teams level on points are separated first by the results of matches played between them. Since Thursday's game is the only meeting between Ghana and Mali in this tournament, any draw will leave that criterion — along with head-to-head goal difference and goals scored — exactly level. That pushes the decision to overall goal difference across the group phase, where Ghana's +1 (two goals scored, one conceded) puts them ahead of Mali, who sit dead level on four scored and four conceded.
Put simply: a draw is enough for Ghana. Mali have to win.
Ghana opened with a comfortable 2-0 win over tournament debutants Cape Verde, then lost 1-0 to Cameroon on Sunday — Marie Ngah Manga converting a first-half penalty awarded after a VAR review. Ghana pushed hard for an equaliser and had one ruled out, Evelyn Badu's 79th-minute effort chalked off by the video assistant referee. The underlying numbers suggest they were unlucky to leave with nothing: 11 attempts to Cameroon's single shot on target, and marginally more expected goals across the match, 1.00 to 0.93.
Mali's route here has been bumpier. They lost their opener 2-1 to Cameroon despite Aïssata Traoré's penalty, then hit back with an entertaining 3-2 win over Cape Verde — a game that featured Eve Pereira's historic strike, the debutants' first-ever WAFCON goal, before Mali held on through a nervy finish.
There's a bigger prize than Thursday's bragging rights, too. WAFCON's four semi-finalists qualify automatically for the 2027 World Cup in Brazil — real incentive for a Ghana side aiming to build on their bronze medal from the last edition, and for a Mali team who only made it to Morocco after CAF expanded the tournament to 16 teams. The quarter-finals follow on 8 and 9 August.
Ghana's numbers favour patience, but Mali's situation demands the opposite. Needing a win, Birama Konaté's side are likely to commit numbers forward early, which could open space in behind for Ghana to break into. Whether Kim Lars Björkegren's team can hold their nerve, and whether Mali can turn desperation into end product, will decide who joins Camqeroon in the last eight.